Device for spreading strewable material during travelling



April 18, 1961 c. VAN DER LELY ETAL 2,930,430

DEVICE FOR SPREADING STREWABLE MATERIAL DURING TRAVELLING Filed March 30, 1954 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 55-15 INVENTORS CORNEL/S VAN DER LELY ARK VAN DER LELV April 18, 1961 c. VAN DER LELY El'AL 0 DEVICE FOR SPREADING STREWABLE MATERIAL DURING TRAVELLING 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 30, 1954 April 18, 1961 c, VAN DER LY k 2,980,430

DEVICE FOR SPREADING STREWABLE MATERIAL DURING TRAVELLING Filed March 30, 1954 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 1961 c. VAN DER LELY ETAL 2,980,430

DEVICE FOR SPREADING STREWABLE MATERIAL DURING TRAVELLING v 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 30, 1954 Fig. EA

April 18, 1961 c. VAN DER LELY EI'AL 2,980,430

DEVICE FOR SPREADING STREWABLE MATERIAL DURING TRAVELLING Filed March 30, 1954 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 2. EJEJA April 1961 c. VAN DER LELY EIAL 2,980,430

DEVICE FOR SPREADING STREWABLE MATERIAL DURING TRAVELLING Filed March 30, 1954 7 She ets-Sheet 6 April 1951 c. VAN DER LELY ETAL 2,980,430

DEVICE FOR SPREADING STREWABLE MATERIAL DURING TRAVELLING Filed March 30, 1954 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 K: I illjiiili g;

United States Patent DEVICE FOR SPREADING STREWABLE MATERIAL DURING TRAVELLING Cornelis van der Lely and Ary van der Lely, Maasland,

Netherlands, assignors to C. van der Lely N.V., Maasland, Netherlands, a Dutch limited company of the Netherlands Filed Mar. 30, 1954, Ser. No. 419,825 Claims priority, application Netherlands Apr. 2, 1953 27 Claims. (Cl. 275-7) robust and simple construction and which nevertheless permits an even distribution of the material over a large width. According to the invention this is attained by the fact that the device is provided with a number of supporting members for transverse displacement of the strewable material, extending collectively over the width of the area of the ground and reaching on both sides of the device collectively beyond the wheels, said supporting members being put into oscillating movement by a shaking device and collectively causing the material discharged through the openings of the container to be dropped and evenly distributed over the width of the said area. Due to the shaking movement of the supporting members the dropping and delivery of the material are not afiected by irregularities of the terrain. Moreover, the local supply of the material permits the use of relatively large discharge openings.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device the width of which may be easily reduced during transport.

Still further objects, features and details of the present invention will appear from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show respectively in plan view, in plan view, in back elevation and in side elevation, viewed in the direction of the arrow III in Fig. 1, a distributor according to the invention mounted on a tractor;

Fig. 1A is a detail on a larger scale of the reciprocating mechanism shown in Figs. 1-3;

Fig. 1B is a cross-section view of the covering strip shown in Fig.1 on a larger scale;

Fig. 1C is a perspective view of the slides controlling the outlet slits of the container shown in Fig. 3;

Figs. 4 and 5 show another embodiment of the distributor according to the invention which is also mounted on a tractor, respectively in planview and in vertical section on the line VV of Fig. 4;

Fig. 5A shows the most important parts of this distributor illustrated in the left hand part of Fig. 5 more in detail;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a detail of a third embodiment;

Fig. 6A is an elevational view of Fig. 6;

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 show respectively in plan view, in back elevation and in side elevation a fourth embodiment of the device according to the invention;

Fig. 8A is a portion of the structure of Fig. 8 on enlarged scale;

Figure 8B is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the eccentric disks in Figure 8A;

Figure 8C is a view of the structure in Figure 8B in side elevation;

Fig. 8D is a sectional View along a longitudinal plane in Fig. 7;

Fig. 8E is a side view of the stucture in Fig. 8A; and

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a part of an inclined supporting surface of the device according to the invention.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings the rear axle stay 1 of a tractor is provided with a supporting structure 2 to which are secured two arms 3A and 3B extending behind the rear wheels 4. Said arms carry a horizontal tube 5 which is bent in the shape of an S and has secured to its ends the centers of horizontal guide bars 6A and 6B extending transversely to the direction of travel. To the same ends are also fixed straps 7A and 7B respectively carrying the rear wall 8A and the front wall 8B of a container for the material to be strewn. Both walls are vertical and transverse to the direction of travel of the vehicle. The left edges of the walls 8A and 8B are connected together by a side wall which is composed of several parts, viz. parts 9A, 10A, 11A and 12A arranged in the direction of travel, said parts being interconnected by other wall parts 13A, 14A and 15A arranged transversely to the direction of travel. symmetrically to the center of the container are provided similar Wall parts 9B-15M of the other side wall of the container.

The bottom of the container is constituted by two substantially trapezoid-shaped plates 16A and 16B. The plate 16A is supported by bushings 17A and 18A on the bars 6A and 6B. In a similar manner the plate 16B is supported by bushings 17B and 18B. Said four bushings can reciprocate over a short distance on the two guide bars 6A and 6B, so that the plates 16A and 163 can each perform a reciprocating motion transversely to the direction of travel of the vehicle. Such motion may be imparted at will to the plates by the driver of r the vehicle; this is enabled by means of a horizontal shaft 19 which extends backwards from the tractor and may be coupled with the motor of the tractor. Said shaft drives a mechanism 20 fixed under the tube 5 and in the middle thereof, said mechanism imparting a suitable, quick reciprocating movement to two rods 21A and 21B. This is shown more in detail in Fig. 1A. To the end of the shaft 19 are secured two eccentric disks 19A and 19B bearing with their circumference respectively against the inner ends of the rods 21A and 21B, which are each provided with an arm 21C and 21D, respectively, a spring 20A being arranged between said arms, so as to keep the inner ends of the rods 21A and 21B against the circumference of the disks 19A and 19B. Thus, upon rotation of the shaft 19, the rods 21A and 213 will be forced to reciprocate in longitudinal direction alternately toward and from each other. The outer ends of said rods are hingedly connected to extensions 22A and 22B secured to the lower face of the plates 16A and 16B. Consequently the plates 16A and 16B will perform similar reciprocating motions. Thus the adjacent edges 16D and 16E of said plates (see Fig. IE) will have a variable distance S from each other. The variable gaps between said edges (Fig. 1B) is covered by a correspondingly shaped covering strip 16C of greater width which is supported at its ends fixed to the middles of the lower edges of the walls 8A and 8B (see Fig. 1) and which is only a very small distance from the plates 16A and 1613. Between the lower edges of the wall parts 9A-12A and 9B12B of the container and the plates 16A and 168 there is a small space of about 3 cm., whereas the other wall parts of the container adjoin the plates with a minimum of clearance. In front of each of the so formed eight outlet slits for the material in the container a slide is provided by which the slit can be closed or reduced in width. The slides are combined in groups of four to a single unit 23A and 23B, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1C for the length of the slit.

4 length, .while in order to obtain a good other, this 1 unit area.

" asser;

' are, provided with lips zazhaving. Yertical 'slits ,24B.,

By inejans of a'winged'nut 25 which can be screwedupon a b l ec n the adj c nt wa11.,.0f:i. h; .cg ain each. ipm y be ke at e i d l. tatin-J Wh n e w d of the ght its have zenradiust din t i ma n at an qu a e fo a S N PQL r cip ocal? us ov en of t p a s .there'wrll..pass;.th o ghia l s slits flow of ma e l wh h" .ea tal; nee-malt Q Th e 26AM he p atelet t r ssed a e e ho l be ,t s gsa lmsasta as. an eoi a a on h ground en r led. 2 B, hele n of h edselB; ibeeatarraa s tr i t e nd th r t mid he e se- .6.48-

- For agood operation of the distributing deviceitis desirable that the material having leftthe container will move as much as possible alon g lines parallel to the guide bars 6A and 6B towards theistrjewing edges 26A and 26B. However, the speed at which 'the material moves over the plates 26Aand 26B is of no importance, when said material has already left the container; In order to favour the rectilinear movement, there are partially provided in the plates, at theplaces where the -mate'- V rial has totravel over a long distance grooves,27 ceasing in close proximity of the strewing edges so to permit the material to pass over the edge in equally distributed condition. Furthermore the part of the plate 16A which plane. Q vmmetIv. of, h tractor. 3 aidm ontain being provided in the proximity of said'plane of symmetry with openings which are covered on the lower 'side by inclined plates 35A and 35B, constituting supporting members for thernaterial in a container located near anopening andTOr-thdmaterial;having left said container,- amon as "said'rn'aterial, which"moves transversely to the directionoftravelbf the tractor, has

reached one of the edges 36A and 36B: and falls upon the ground. The movement ofthe materiaLover the plates is caused atwill by a shaking or bumpingniotion 'of the plates in a horizontal direction transversely to the pla B tit he s r ams ssls plate 93161 h c the strewable mate iei latss d l u n the roun sl w. q ;:;mats l s?! the direction of travel; aswilhbedescribed hereinafter more in detail. In order to enable the plates to "perform said movements; each plate is provided at three places 'with' a guiding bushing adapted to slide'u'pon a horizontal rod. As shown the plates 35A and 35B are respectively providedwithfguiding bushings 37A; 38A, and. 37B, 3813,3913. The bushings 37A and 38B are slidable upona rod 40A, the bushings37B and 38A Tare slidable upon 'a-rod 40B, whereas the bushings 39A and-39B are respectively slidable upon a rod 41A and 4113 (see also Fig. SA). All said rods are supported by the beam'34, each ofthe rods 40A'i and 40B being is located on the left hand side of the container and 'whishfh as a consideirableilehgth. since the. width of the 9 A is large, is downwardly inclined'yso that the material will move over said part, at a'higher speed. The p1ate 16B is madein a similar manner with pa sloping outer portion. fAt the bendsZ SA and 2 8 B ii 1 the plates 16A and 16B each triangular extremity may be either loosened and removed from the remaining portion of theplate or it maybe swung upwardstas will borne byv two sliding bearings 42 and 42 so that said rods can be moved to' and fro by a vibrating mechanism '43 which will be described hereinafter, whereas the rods 41A and 41B are immovably connected to the beam 34 by means of uprights 303. and 304 (see 'Fig. 5A).. Be.- tween the bushings sliding on. each of the rods.40A and 40B is provided a spring 44, said springs tending to move the plates 35A and 35B: asinuch as possible awayfrom each other. The rods; 40A and 40B:are further provided with abutrhentsv 45 cooperating. with the bushings 37A and 37B. 1 V

The mechanism.,43. serves to move; the rods 40A and 40B, exactly. in opposite reciprocating motion with regard to each other. Said mechanism comprises a shaft 311 v(see Fig.7 5A), driven :by ,the. motor of the tractor 30 and carrying two oppositelyarranged eccentric disks 312 and 313 bearing with their circumference against the inner ends of the rods40A and 4013. Each of said rods carries an arm1314 and 315 ,respectively, and between said arms a draw spring 316 is arranged. Thus, upon rotation of the shaft 311 the rods 40A -;and 4013* will from, each other; If these reciprocating movements are befdescribed more in detail with reference to Figs. 4

and 5), lby whichthe width of the device will be reduced necessary that thelateral width of the container is not larger'than the width of the ,tract orjand that the conrainer, when suitable proportions are desired, extends at most about half the total lateral dimensionof the combination of theplates I6 A and 16B. 7

Before use the container is substantially. equally .filled with material and by the m cnlernent of the plates the mass will be automatically spread out. 'With a predetermined'adjustment of the slits under the .groups of slides 23A and 23B, the quantity of material that is strewnper unit area is defined by the speed of rotation of the shaft 19 and bythe travelling speed. Since these speeds may .be chosen. generally independent of each is i a means to adjust thestrewn. quantity per respectively .located behind. and in front- 0f said plane.

to the normalwidth of atractor. To this end it is M ;A further adjustment canbe obtained by V varying the width of the slits.

perform reciprocating. moyementsalternately toward and effected, the plates 35A and 353 will perform corresponding reciprocating movements duetoithe springs 44 and the abutments 45. Against the lower face of each of the plates 35A and 35Bis respectively welded an extension 46A, 4613 provided with an aperture 305 and 306, respectively. A bolt 47 passes through' both of said apertures. -The distance between the head 307- and the nut 308 of this bolt is somewhat smaller than the greatest distance which may occur; betweenthe remote sides of the extensions 46Aand146B during the, reciprocating motion in the absence of a bolt. Upon outward movementof the plates 35A and 35B the extensions 146A and 46B will suddenly strike against the head 307 'move over the plates. atfa. sufllci'ent speed, when the plates perform a'continuous movement, the bolt is removed. For rnaterials. which can be displaced very dif ficultly, a bumping or striking action should occur when Moreover; the. container 33A is. 1ocated wholly to tl1e 7' "rename the container33B wholly to the' right of the the speed of the plates is large; this may be obtained 7 by-reducing the; distance between :head and nut of the bolt 47. In this manner it is also possible to adjust the quantity of material strewn at each stroke..-In order to be able to adjust this quantity Ofstrewn material when the bolt 47 has been removed, theamplitude of of said bottom having only such a small distance to the plate as is necessary for moving the plate with the greatest admissible amplitude to prevent contact with the plate. The plate 35A carries near the opening in the lower portion of the container 33A four fiat bars 52A which serve that, when the container is getting empty, no material can adhere on the bottom 51A. By this a constant spreading of material per unit area is assured until the container is Wholly empty. Moreover the container has a vertical and rectangular wall surface 53A adjacent to which a slide 54A is provided, of which the lower edge 309 is situated nearer to the plate 35A than that of the wall surface 53A. On the slide 54A two vertical supporting surfaces 55A are fixed carrying a partition 56A with a horizontal lower edge 310.

This lower edge is nearer to the plate 35A than that of the slide 54A, so that the layer of material moving over the plate under the slide 54A is not allowed to pass at the entire thickness; thus the partition 56A operates as a scraping or stripping wall. The thickness of the actually outfiowing layer is thus defined by the height of the lower edge 310 of the partition 56A above the plate 35A. This height may be adjusted by adjusting the slide 54A in height.

The container 33B is arranged in the same manner as the container 33A. The slide 54B, corresponding to the slide 54A, is situated with the latter in a vertical plane and is integral therewith, by which the adjustment is greatly simplified and an equal strewing action of both plates 35A and 35B is assured.

The large width of the device, which is very favourable for an economic operation, may be reduced for the purpose of transport over roads and through gates by tipping up the outer extremities of the plates 35A and 35B on hinge axes 57A and 573. It is also possible to disconnect the hinges, after which the outer extremities can be carried along separately.

A modified form of a plate to be put into reciprocating motion for equally strewing material is shown in Figs. 6 and 6A. The plate 60 comprises a rectangular portion 61 located under an opening of a container, a portion 63 provided with openings 62 and a portion 65 provided with strewing edges 64. Under the portion 63 are provided a plate 66 and a plate 67 in which openings are formed according to the same design as the openings 62 in the portion 63. Said plates are used as slides to be displaced in the direction of the arrow 68 or in opposite direction, whereby the openings 62 can be reduced in size. The plate 60 is moved to and fro in its longitudinal direction. The slides 66 and 67 are experimentally put in a position in which the openings 62 allow the passage of such quantities from the layer of material moving thereover in the direction of the arrow 68 that an equal spreading of the material over the total length of the portions 63 and 64 is obtained.

The device illustrated in Figs. 7-9 is supported on running wheels 70 and 71 rotatably mounted on a horizontal tube 72. Said tube forms part of a frame, further comprising two parallel horizontal beams 73 and two horizontal beams 75 intersecting each other in a point 74. In said point 74 fastening means are provided to connect the device to a fixed point of a tractor (not shown), so that the device can be drawn forward with the aid of said tractor in the direction of the arrow 76.

The tube 72 carries arms 77 which are hingedly connected to the rear ends of the beams 73. The common 'hinge axis has beenindicated by the reference numeral 5 78. On the rear ends of the beams 73 are fixed vertical bars 79 carrying in conjunction with supporting bars 80 on the rear ends of the beams 75 a container 81 which can be filled from its upper end with the material to be spread over the ground. By means of bars 82 and 83 the bars 79 are connected to supports 84 for two vertical compression springs 85 which are located between said supports 84 and the tube 72. The length and rigidity of said springs are such that the arms 77 remain approximately in horizontal position. The oblong container 81 has an outlet opening 320 and 321, respectively, at each end. These openings are located approximately straight before the wheels 70 and 71, the under side of the container 81 being downwardly inclined from the centre towards said openings. Under the inclined under side on the right hand side and the corresponding outlet opening 320 is provided a supporting surface 86 which can be moved to and fro in a horizontal direction at right angles to the direction 76 and which is guided during said movement by rollers 87 and 88 running in horizontal guides 89 and 90 fixed to the container 81. An upstanding edge 91 on the rear side of the supporting surface 86 and an edge 322 of the same height on the front side thereof prevent strewable material from escaping along these sides.

Under the left half of the container 81 is provided'a supporting surface 92 which is the mirror image of the supporting surface 86 and which is guided in the same manner by rollers in the guides 89 and in guides 93. The adjacent ends of the supporting surfaces 86 and 92 are connected together by a draw spring 94, so that said surfaces always tend to move towards each other. In order to put the supporting surfaces 86 and 92 and some other movable parts of the device into reciprocating movement, a shaft 95 is provided which extends in the direction of travel and which is driven by the power take-off of the tractor, when the machine is drawn forward by said tractor over the field. The shaft 95 carries two eccentric disks 96 and 97 which are staggered with regard to each other by 180. Disks 360 and 361 are mounted eccentrically on the disks 96 and 97, respectively, in a manner to permit angular displacement of the disks 360 and 361 with respect to the related disks 96 and 97. For example, as shown in Figs. 8C, the disks 96 and 97 can have elongated arcuate slots 364 there'- in to receive bolts 363 which adjustably secure the disks 360 and 361 thereto. To the supporting surface 86 is connected one end of a horizontal rod 98 which is slidable to and fro in transverse direction in a guide 99 rigidly connected to a beam 323 of the frame and which ears against the disk 360 at least during part of each revolution of the shaft 95. In a similar manner a rod 100 with a guide 101 is connected to the supporting surface 92, said rod cooperating with the disk 361. Upon each revolution of the shaft 95 the supporting surfaces 86 and 92 are thus once separated from each other, after which the spring 94 forces both surfaces together again.

It will be evident that e.g. the supporting surface 86 tends to convey material from the container along its upper face downwardly to the right. The quantity which can be displaced thereover per unit of time is controlled by a slide 102 which may be moved up and down by means of a lever system 104 rotatable on an axis 103. For this purpose to the lever system 104 is connected an arm 105, the free extremity of which is controlled by the upper side of the eccentric disk 360 (see Fig. 8a). A spring 324 tends to keep the slide 102 in its open position. The slide is opened to a certain extent when the surface 86 moves to the right and is kept closed by the disk 360 during the returning movement of the surface 86. The amplitude of the reciprocating motion of the supporting surface 86 and the slide 102 may be adjusted as required, e.g. by varying the eccentricity ofv the disk 360. The desired variation in the eccentricity of disk 96 can be achieved by loosening the bolts 363 hold at thed sk Suki-th r to; w e pon, t d b H turned"relatiyeftojthe disk 96 by reason of slidable en easement .of the loos ned bolts. 53 in it'h t e a ed i lets A slidefl tl6 isilikewise cooperating, with the s upporting derneath, an edge more 01";16SS1SIQPWiS instead-biplane, so that; steeper portions correspondingjto the{rises ofa stair -'ar,e;alternated by'portionsjof smallersteepness corresponding. toj theiitlreads. of a; stair, The" edge under Surface; 92.1 Theoperation of this slide is eflectedby cated at an,appreciably higher, elevation than theadjacent fledges, of the outlet openings 320 and} 321 of the cbntainer 81', sof that there is ,no risk that any material would pass over, the-slides, The material moves under each Lslide' in a layer :of uniform thickness and then reaches the',lower -,,edge 110 of the supporting surface inf question, These'lower edges are provided-with rectangular incisions 117,,as hasbeen shown for-" e surface .86 in the right hand part of Fig. 7. Underitheedge 11L! twooppositely inclined supporting 2 surfaces 1111and112-meet each other in. a horizontal ed'g'e 113 situated in'the direction of travel. Near this edge,said supportingisurfaces are hingedon an axis (not 1 shown), ,parallelto. said edge, The lower, endsof the isupporting surfaces areea'chsupported by a sliding piece 114,,by which it, is, possible to arrange said supporting stir-faces as lowas possible, sothat the whole construction .can' beikept very;low.' The sliding pieces. 114 also serve as marking ,means' for making. a visible, track on the ground, so that,during each successive pass, over the I field, ,the1visible track previouslyflmade' on the; ground serve as a guide for the driver to avoid...repe'ated strewingtof material ,onthe same area or. theIfailure. to

strew any material, on, an area. The supporting surfaces 111 and 112 are provided with gutters, the lower. ex}

trer'nities '115 of-Uwhichar'e equally distributed over the width; of the striplike area of the ground thathas to be strewn by means of said surfaces, so thatif an equal quahtityoflmaterial is suppliedto each gutter per unit of time,;an,fequal distributionof thematerial over said area is-assured. The equal supply of material to all gutters is obtainedby the special form of the' edge .110. from, a portion 116 (Fig. 8E) of the edge 110 the materialffalls uniformly intoitwo adjacent gutters of: the sur- 7 face .112,wherea's'fr om"an incision 117 ofisaid edge 110 the material is equally. delivered to two adjacent gutters of th-surfacelll; The edge portions 116 and the incisions 117 .arefurther, of equal width and. will consequentlydeliver the same quantity of material. It will belunderstood that the edge portions 116 and the incisions 117, -which in the illustrated}:embodiment; are

the surface f 111,- may bealso located in alignment, but this case separate guiding means would. be necessary to deliver the material passing over the edge-portions :1'16 and 117-uniformly into two adjacent guttersfrespectively of the surface 112 and 111. Such guiding means a may bealso provided as additional means in-the embodiwhich-the material passes-should of course-have the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the said portions. The steeper portions will assuredelivery of the as is the case in the devices according to-the invention,

.vvill tend, instead. of spreading thematerial uniformly,

V r to drop the. material upon a number oflines. Even on theselines the materialneeds not fall regularly, since at every shaking or. bumpingmotiona small quantity will simultaneously leave the-edgegso that said lines on the ground will be only covered wit'h material at regular intervals. In order, to obtaina more equal spreading, according to Fig. 10 the lower ends 226 of a number of inclinedgutters 225 may be provided with small surfaces 228, either adjoining said lower ends or being situated somewhat under said ends. These surfaces 228 are providedon their upper side with unevennesses, such as small pins 229, and are sloping down in the direction of the arrows 230. fUpon' said braking surfaces 228 some material is accumulated, which material will fall on the (ground/more continuously'and in a betterspread condition..

- Another possibility which may occur at the ends of the gutters in thedevice according to theinvention, at least when the-small braking surfaces, 228,are not available, isrthefinfluence of the speed of the material in a direction transverse to thedirection of'travel, by which the material, dependent on the height of the endof the gutter above the" grou d, will, fall'more or less laterally away from this end. 'Dhis drawbackfmaybe eliminated 'by disposing vertical surfaces 231 adjacent to the ends 227 of the gutters, 225.' The material leaving the edges 227 will abut against-these surfaces 231 and lose. its speed inlateral direction; V i

What we claim is: 7 V V p 1. .A vehicular device for spreading-strewable material over' a strip=like area of the ground during ground traversing movement of thedevice; comprising the combination of a vehicle having at least two wheels located "on'eaeh of-theopposite sides'of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle; a supporting frame carried by said vehicle;

' at least one container for thematerial to be strewn sociated with'said framefor receiving the mate'rial to be respectively located above the surface 112 and above a a two corresponding surfaces-118 and 119 takingpart in 1 the horizontalmovement ofthe surface 92; The surfaces 112and 112 maybe easily swung upwards, by'turning said surfaces around an axis,v as at; 365 .in order togrel- ,duce the width of the device, when the same is outof pperationandhas to be transported .or stored.

In em in t stsaria isq a siaermat ia r mnrshesonta ueniunw strewn, saidmember extending from beneathsaid outlet opening in lateral direction from said longitudinal axis of the yehicle to a point located a. substantial, lateral distance. beyond a wheel offthe vehicle, said supporting member having. atleast onedischarge edge arranged at an acute angleto said longitudinal axis, andmea'ns. coupled. to said supporting member whereby thelatter is reciprocated ,to cause the material supplied thereto through said outletopeningef the container to move substantially laterally over said supporting member and to be uniformly distributed over said edge onto the ground, said supporting member having a, displaceable extremity to permit reduction of the width of the device. 2. A deviceas -definedfin. claim 1, wherein said supporting member comprises a plate which is, provided with openings ,allowin'gthe 'strewablematerial to fall upon the ground. U h 3. A device as defined inclaim 1,. wherein *thecontainer for. thestrewable material includesand is closed at its lower end partially .by a bottom fixedly secured sce ima ;he'd s rahlee make azsuppv to saidcontainer and-partially ,by saidj supportingmemher, said container having; ;a lower -edge.;spaced-; from rial to leave the container in a layer moving over said supporting member.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 comprising agitating means connected to the supporting member and adapted to prevent adhering of the material in said container.

5. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein the supporting member is at least partially downwardly inclined to cause the material to flow in downward direction.

6. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein the supporting member is provided with grooves for guiding the material. I

7. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising two substantially similar trapezoid-shaped supporting members, including the first said supporting member, adjoining each other and having corresponding obliquely disposed sides and forming together a parallelogram having lateral sides which constitute strewing edges.

8. A device as defined in claim 7, wherein said container is located over both the supporting members, said container having two side walls having a stepwise configuration with portions aligned over the supporting members in the direction of movement of the material and portions aligned transversely thereto.

9. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising two substantially triangular supporting members including the first said supporting member, a separate container including the first said container for each supporting member, the movement of the material on the one supporting memher being opposite to that on the other and the containers having openings lying substantially behind each other in the direction of travel of the device.

10. A device as defined in claim 9, wherein both supporting members slope downwardly in opposite directions.

11. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein two supporting members including the first said member and comprising a shaking device coupled to and moving said members alternately towards and away from each other.

12. A device as defined in claim 11, comprising abutments which are free from the frame and which limit the movement of each supporting member inthe direction of the horizontal component of the movement of the material with regard to that of the other supporting member.

13. A device as defined in claim 12, comprising means to put said abutments out of operation.

14. A device as defined in claim 12, comprising means to adjust the distance between two predetermined points on the supporting members at which shock occurs due to said abutments and thereby to adjust the intensity of the shock.

15. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising means to adjust the amplitude of the oscillating movement.

16. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising an upstanding stripping wall and wherein outside the container adjacent to the wall, under the lower edge of which the material leaves the container, said upstanding stripping wall is provided extending to a higher elevation than said lower edge, the lower edge of said stripping wall being located closer by the supporting member than the lower edge of the wall of the container.

17. A device as defined in claim 9, comprising an adjustable slide common to both containers and wherein the lower edges of both containers, under which the material leaves said container, are formed by the lower edge of said adjustable slide.

18. A device as defined in claim 16,- comprising for each container, a stripping wall connected to the common slide.

19. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising a restricting member operatively associated with said supporting member and wherein said supporting member cooperates with said restricting member for limiting the thickness of the layer of the material moving over said supporting member, the supporting member. at least in a portion thereof which is located at a higher elevation 10 than the lower edge of the restricting member, including narrow strips which are substantially perpendicular to said lower edge and which are of steeper inclination than the remaining part of the supporting member.

20. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein a portion of said supporting member serves as a part of a container bottom and is provided with upstanding edges of which each part extends above the immediately adjacent lower edge of the container in question.

21. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said container has a plurality of outlet openings and the total length of the outlet openings, through which material is discharged from a container under an edge over a supporting member, is small in relation to the width of the area controlled by the device.

22. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising marking means on the lower end of the supporting member to leave a visible track on the ground.

23. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising a secand supporting member sloping laterally beyond the wheels and a third supporting member sloping down towards a point located between said wheels, said second and third supporting members being downwardly inclined from about the same position and being at this position of about the same width in the direction of travel of the device, the first said supporting member having an edge located over said position, the first said member supplying material to the second and third members over said edge, whereby material moving along the first said member falls upon the second and third member.

24. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising gutters on the supporting member, the gutters having free extremities arranged that the widths of the portions of the area on the ground controlled by the individual gutters are substantially proportional to the quantities of material supplied to the gutters per unit of time.

25. A device as defined in claim 24, wherein the gutters are combined in groups as rigid structures.

26. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein near an edge of a supporting member over which strewable material leaves said member a braking member is provided, upon which some material is allowed to accumulate, said braking member causing the material to be dropped on the ground substantially in a continuous flow.

27. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein near an edge of a supporting member over which strewable material leaves said member with a speed transverse to the direction of travel an abutting member is provided against which the material abuts to fall thereafter upon the ground with a decreased transversal component of the speed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 11,609 Hockman Aug. 29, 1854 190,293 DHeureuse May 1, 1877 705,858 McWhorter July 29, 1902 880,561 Mitchell Mar. 3, 1908 908,207 Crane Dec. 29, 1908 1,601,039 Pereda Sept. 28, 1926 1,668,516 Litchfield et al. May 1, 1928 2,232,481 Schroder Feb. 18, 1941 2,280,234 Harvey Apr. 21, 1942 2,416,898 Breeze Mar. 4, 1947 2,583,608 Smith Ian. 29, 1952 2,623,751 Kaller Dec. 30, 1952 2,647,756 Allersma Aug. 4, 1953 2,678,216 Gandrud May 11, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 107,988 Australia July 13, 1939 225,864 Germany Sept. 23, 1910 415,737 Germany July 3, 1925 22,018 Great Britain of 1907 669,911 Great Britain Apr. 9, 1952 

